Election Deadlines for the Giffords Seat

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There will be two congressional races overlapping one another for the Giffords seat — a special election and the general election.

Here are the dates you need to know:

SPECIAL ELECTION

Candidate nomination petitions are due Monday, February 27, 2012 by 5:00 p.m.

Legal challenges to candidate nomination petitions must be filed by Monday, March 5, 2012.

Early ballot voting begins Monday, April 2, 2012. (15 days)

Party primaries Primary Day is Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

Early ballot voting begins Tuesday, May 29 , 2012. (15 days)

‘Special’ Election Day is Tuesday, June 12, 2012.

Here’s where it gets tricky:

GENERAL ELECTION

Candidate nomination petitions are due Wednesday, May 30, 2012 by 5:00 p.m. (prior to the Special Election)

Normal statutory rules for legal challenges to candidate nomination petitions apply.

Early ballot voting begins Thursday, August 2, 2012.

Party primaries Primary Day is Tuesday, August 28, 2012.

Early ballot voting begins October 11, 2012.

‘General’ Election Day is Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

If House Speaker Any Tobin gets the Tea-Publican legislature to agree to his unconstitutional plan to refer the redistricting maps that he and FAIR Trust operative John Mills put together in secret to a special election, this special election would occur on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, just two weeks prior to the filing deadline for candidate nomination petitions on May 30, 2012. This means that candidates will not know in what district they are running or the contours of their district. I suspect legal challenges and DOJ preclearance will prevent “Tobin’s Tyranny” from ever occurring.